HOST expands Avondale Global Gateway with new port and rail infrastructure
T. Parker Host (HOST) has announced a US$50 million investment in Avondale Global Gateway, expanding marine terminal, rail and warehouse infrastructure at the industrial campus along the Mississippi River in Louisiana.
The investment will include a new 200,000-square-foot warehouse, increasing the facility’s total indoor storage capacity to approximately 1.5 million square feet. HOST also plans to activate Avondale’s fifth deepwater dock, allowing the campus to accommodate up to six vessels simultaneously once the improvements are completed.
The capital programme allocates approximately US$15 million to rail infrastructure and another US$15 million to warehouse construction. A further US$5 million each will be directed towards dock improvements, road infrastructure, additional industrial storage and laydown areas, and equipment.
Construction and infrastructure work are already underway, with the overall programme scheduled for completion by December 2027. The new warehouse will be the first building constructed at the Avondale site since the 1970s.
Expanding multimodal capacity
Avondale Global Gateway operates as a multimodal industrial campus in Jefferson Parish, providing deepwater access, Class I railway connections, warehousing and road transport infrastructure. The facility handles more than 75 commodities and supports industrial activities involving cargo storage, processing and distribution.
According to HOST, the expansion responds to increasing demand from customers operating across manufacturing, energy infrastructure and other industrial supply chains. The company identified copper imports, power generation equipment and other materials associated with data centre development among the activities supporting demand at Avondale.
The facility has also entered into a long-term agreement with a major energy equipment manufacturer and recently handled a shipment of Venezuelan primary aluminium, which HOST described as the first significant delivery of its kind to the United States in more than eight years.
Adam Anderson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of T. Parker Host, said the investment is intended to provide infrastructure that allows customers to establish and expand operations at the campus.
The programme is expected to support approximately 100 additional HOST jobs, bringing the company’s workforce at Avondale to more than 400 employees. HOST also expects around 1,000 people to be working across the campus daily by 2028 as infrastructure development and anticipated tenant projects progress.
The rail expansion will receive US$6.95 million in state and local support as part of the overall investment programme. This includes a US$2.6 million interest-free loan from Louisiana Economic Development, US$3.1 million in approved state capital funding and US$1.25 million committed by Jefferson Parish.
HOST expects the additional infrastructure to create capacity for further private investment and long-term industrial operations at Avondale, alongside the expansion of existing cargo-handling and logistics activities.
